Frozen in Time
by FuzzyPurplePickle
Summary: 'Lelouch vi Britannia, 11th Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and 17th heir to the Imperial thrown did not cry. Crying was for the weak. That was what father said. That was what the Imperial Court drilled into him. Instead, he stood frozen. Frozen in time as the memories flooded through him, as though the dam had burst.' Oneshot, rated T because I'm paranoid. I hope you enjoy!


**Hey people! So, this is my first fanfic. Scary, huh? I had a sudden stroke of inspiration whilst watching Code Geass so I wrote this! It's a oneshot about what I like to think went through Lelouch's mind when he saw the scene of his mother's death. I know it's not the best but there's always room for improvement, right?  
I do need to stress a couple of disclaimers. First of all, I don't own Code Geass. Secondly, I don't have a Beta yet, so please excuse any grammatical errors and feel free to point them out to me. Finally, yes, I know Cornelia isn't actually in this scene. I just wanted to add her in there, I hope you don't mind! Oh, and there are some implied spoilers in here (I say implied, I don't really think of Marianne's death as all that much of a spoiler), just in case someone who's not done watching the anime stumbles across this.  
Alright, I think that's everything. On with the show, er, story!**

* * *

**Frozen In Time**

Lelouch vi Britannia, 11th Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and 17th heir to the Imperial thrown did not cry. Crying was for the weak. That was what father said. That was what the Imperial court drilled into him. Instead, he stood frozen. Frozen in time as memories flooded through him, as though the dam had burst.

It was like the world was in slow motion. The hurried footsteps of a panic-stricken Cornelia came at a snail's pace, her footsteps on the cobbled paths of the Aries Villa echoing in the eerie silence.

Princess Cornelia. She had always been there for Lelouch, teaching him what it meant to be a warrior. He had always admired her courage and self-sacrifice on the battlefield. He used to envy her physical prowess, thinking it was the most unfair thing that could ever happen, a _girl_ being stronger than him. Oh how wrong he was. No amount of supposed injustice could ever compare to the sight he saw before him. His family, his happiness, his entire world… Shattered like the shards of glass on the now blood-stained floor.

As his half-sister's sprint brought her ever closer to the scene, he remembered the last time he had seen her run like that. He felt a wave of remorse wash over him as he realised that it could well be the last time he ever got to be with his dear sisters of the li Britannia line.

* * *

"Euphy!" Lelouch cried desperately, out of breath, "Wait up!"

Prince Lelouch and Princesses Nunnally and Euphemia were playing races in the gardens of the Aries Palace. This, Lelouch was not best pleased about. Leave it do Euphy to suggest the game that Lelouch was the most incompetent at.

"Me? You should be more worried about Nunnally! She'll overtake you any second if you keep up that pace!" the 'Pink Princess', as she had been nicknamed, teased. Lelouch scowled. As much as he loved Nunnally, there was no way he would let himself be defeated by a mere 7 year old. That kind of humiliation was too much for him to stand.

Unfortunately, though his determination was admirable, the boy prince's carefully calculated plan for speed duration and angle of turns did not factor in tree roots.

"Agh!" he screeched as his toes hooked under the wood and he went tumbling forward, completely ruining his £2000 suit. He didn't understand how clothes could be so expensive, but that didn't matter. His mother was still going to kill him with some of that famous Marianne the Flash skill. He longed to see her in action, but from the side-lines was a far preferable view.

"Hahaha! I'm gonna beat my big brother!" Nunnally cheered as she shot past him, speed increased massively by her joy in victory and, more importantly, the promise of bragging rights.

Scowling, Lelouch picked himself up and staggered the rest of the way to the finish line, a whole 5.27 minutes after his little sister.

"Ugh, Euphy, why'd you have to go and pick running as a game to play? And in this weather?" Lelouch asked in irritation as he flopped unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Because I knew it would be the funniest to watch you attempt to play." She answered mischievously. Lelouch shot upright, a glint of pure outrage in his eyes.

"What?! That's horrid! I'm telling mother!" he cried in indignation.

"Actually, Auntie Marianne finds this sort of thing amusing, if the time when we all went swimming is any indication." Euphy replied.

Lelouch growled.

"But how did you BEAT me? You're a GIRL!" he exclaimed, standing up to try and make his point better.

"Girls can do things too y'know." She pointed out.

"No they can't! The whole female population is just _useless_!" The raven-haired boy insisted.

"You… Think I'm useless, big brother?" Nunnally whimpered, looking at the ground in shame.

"No, he's just trying to make excuses because he's a big lazy pants!" the elder sister explained with a grin.

"Haha! Lazy Lulu, lazy Lulu!" Nunnally sang in her angelic voice, getting over her previous sadness remarkably quickly.

"Hey! Shut up Euphy!" Lelouch commanded as he pushed the girl over, his patience finally having worn out.

Suddenly, a new, more mature and supremely outraged voice boomed through the gardens, making the tea set on the table shake.

"LELOUCH! HOW DARE YOU HARM MY SISTER?!" screeched Cornelia as she sprinted around the corner at what the boy genius was sure was record breaking speed.

Lelouch dashed desperately away from his older sister, running faster than he'd ever run before. Nunnally and Euphemia were giggling uncontrollably behind him as he sprinted away like his life depended on it.

* * *

Lelouch was snapped back to reality when the doors to the hall swung dramatically open, slamming into the wall with a deafening smack. Cornelia threw herself into the room but seemed to stop mid stride as she saw the sight before her.

What Lelouch was sure were 50 different emotions swept across her face all at once.

Shock, puzzlement, realization, pain and pure fury. Her expression had gone from 0 to 60 in a matter of milliseconds, just as Lelouch's had. Mirroring his actions to a T, the royal soldier simply stood and stared. Stared at the horrifying site before her, a deceased mother cradling a scarred child. It was as though the room was some kind of trap, once you stepped in, you couldn't move for sorrow.

The 10 year old eventually tore his eyes from Cornelia and locked his gaze onto the floor. It was black and white in chequered diamonds. He'd always thought it looked like a chessboard, a perfect place to play his most beloved game of Kings and pawns.

A pawn… That was all Lelouch and his sister would be now. Pawns in Charles zi Britannia's vast collection of pieces on his infinite expanse of a board. That board was the world. Charles was the King. People like Lelouch's brother Schneizel el Britannia, people who pleased the Emperor - they were his knights. His bishops. His rooks. People like him, insignificant and arrogant children, they were simply pawns to be used in political games. Pieces to be sacrificed to make way for the bigger picture.

But Nunnally, in her weak and crippled state, wasn't even of that much value to the Emperor now, not even satisfactory for being married off for political gain.

Her brother couldn't help but think back to his chess matches with his older brother, mentor and idol: Prince Schneizel. Cornelia had always teased him by calling him schnitzel, but Lelouch had never dared. He knew how cold and calculating his brother could be. He was not going to risk even the payback he would receive for using a harmless nickname. Of course, he was yet to experience the future Prime minister's true wrath.

* * *

"With this, I call check." 8-year-old Lelouch announced. He'd gotten a lot better in the past few years since Schneizel had started to teach him. Sure he was young, but give it a few years and he'd be giving Schneizel a serious run for his money for the title of the family's best chess master.

Not yet, though, it seemed.

"And in doing so, you spring my trap." The blond Prince said smugly as he moved his white king a place forwards, putting Lelouch into:

"Checkmate."

The younger prince stared at the board, mouth agape. He couldn't believe it, he'd only been two moves away from victory. All the time Schneizel had kept him focused on an elaborate strategy being played out by the Queen as his King crept stealthily and unnoticed into position to strike.

"H-how did you…?"

"I think you've already figured that out for yourself, dear brother." Was the victor's only reply.

It was true; Lelouch knew exactly what had happened. He had been tricked. He quite literally played right into his brother's hands.

"You lulled me into a false sense of security, had me go after a very elaborate strategy that you knew I'd spot. Whilst everything else was in use, you had your King move in. You predicted exactly how I'd combat your decoy." The Prince explained, more to himself than his brother.

"Excellent deduction, Lelouch," the man in white replied. "Just remember that this is not just a chess strategy, it can be used in war too. Never feel too safe, or too confident. Always look for any signs of ulterior motives."

Lelouch nodded with a grin. He liked how Schneizel always spoke the truth. The truth of war, of the lies and deceits that the world was really filled with. He didn't try to hide the boy from reality like the others did. Even the Emperor kept Lelouch in the dark, probably on his wife's strict orders.

But not Schneizel. He was a voice of reason, a pillar of truth. He knew that trying to fool Lelouch was pointless anyway; the boy wasn't so dim as to think that the way foreigners were treated was all 'unicorns and rainbows 'as the Empire would like him to believe.

And so, Schneizel taught Lelouch all that he could about war and battle. Tactics and strategies were the most important of lessons, he said. Without them, the strength of your army was nothing.

Little did the white Prince know that this particular piece of advice would come back to bite him one day.

* * *

As Lelouch recalled the memory, realization hit him. It was a moment of such clarity, such certainty, that he felt as though nothing could sway him from the decision he had made.

He couldn't afford to comply with the Empire's wishes. He couldn't be a pawn, let Nunnally become obsolete. He had to become the King of this game. He had to be the one in control. If anybody else held that position, his little sister would be lost to him forever.

His little sister.

He slowly moved his gaze towards her and his mother. Nunnally's eyes were wide and unblinking, completely still in her terror. He felt his heart beat 10 times faster, he felt it melt at the pitiful site, he felt it harden again into one of steel. He would not break. He would not yield. He would protect her, keep her safe as his mother had tried to even in her last moments. As his violet eyes connected with his sister's he thought of how they once sparkled. He thought of how bright and full of life they had once been.

* * *

The grand hall of Clovis was full of art. Beautiful paintings of expansive landscapes, intimidating portraits of Emperors long past and skilfully crafted sculptures of angels were everywhere you looked. With all this available, though, 6-year-old Nunnally Vi Britannia had eyes only for one work of art.

A simplistic painting of a crane hung modestly on the wall. The white bird stood tall on the ripples of shallow water, staring off with pride into the distance. The Princess's eyes gleamed with wonder as she stared and stared at the painting.

"I see you've found something to your liking, dearest Nunnally." Clovis said, making his way over to his half sister with a smile. His heart glowed with the knowledge that she shared his love for art of all shapes and forms. He had never before seen her so encapsulated and it made him feel proud of his sibling.

"Oh yes Clovis, it's so majestic!" she exclaimed. Her vocabulary was rather broad, having been taught by only the best tutors.

"Isn't it just?" her brother replied. "Who knows, maybe one day, you can go to Japan and see these creatures for yourself."

Nunnally was overjoyed at the suggestion. "Oh, do you think we could, Clovis? It would be so wonderful!" the Princess had soon begun to ramble about how splendid she thought Japan was. "We could see the cranes and wear their clothes and learn their martial arts, not that brother Lelouch would be any good… Oh and we can see that lovely mountain of Fuji! It's so beautiful over there…"

Lelouch looked absolutely mortified by the suggestion of taking Nunnally to such a fragile zone.

"Absolutely not! Father wants the recourses of Japan, we could get caught in the crossfire of war!" he shouted, words booming in the huge museum.

"Oh big brother, _please?_" Nunally begged, tears forming in her eyes.

Lelouch softened. He couldn't bare that look of disappointment on her face, the sadness that overcame her at the thought of never being able to gaze upon those precious birds of hers.

"Alright then Nunnally. When we're older, we'll all go to Japan together and see the cranes. The three of us." He relented.

Clovis smiled and followed Lelouch as the boy went back to scrutinizing the portrait that had been done of him.

"You're a great big brother. You should be proud."

* * *

At that moment, Lelouch didn't feel like a great big brother at all. He felt like a failure. He had failed to stop his mother from carelessly calling off security, failed to keep Nunnally out of harms way, failed to even realize what was happening until it was too late.

Nothing seemed bright and wondrous anymore like the crane once had been. That very same painting hung in the room, now riddled with bullet holes, as if symbolising the loss of Nunnally's innocence.

Lelouch would never allow something like this to happen to his sister ever again. She may be crippled, she may be blind, but she was still his blood. And even if it meant sacrificing himself in the process, he swore to protect her. To build a new world around her where she could be happy, the paradise she had always dreamed of.

It was in that moment, with all those memories rushing through him and with such a terrible sight before him, that Lelouch Vi Britannia's childhood days came to an end, and a demon was born.

* * *

**And there you have it! What do you think? Good? Bad? The ugliest of ugly? I'd appreciate it if you let me know, constructive criticism is always welcome. Maybe, if all two of you that click on this seem to like it, I'll write more fics! We'll just have to see.  
**


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